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3/15/13

Can’t Pay College Athletes? You Need More People

I know that the subject of paying college athletes has been talked about over and over again and by now, most people who care to study up on the topic have formed an opinion and those who haven’t probably can’t be appealed to. But I still wanted to weigh in on the part of the argument that irks me the most — the whole “it would be too complicated” spiel.

The main point that folks against paying college athletes make is that it would be too costly and destroy the system. While it’s alarming to know that so many people believe keeping their favorite tv show around in its current form is more important than treating young people fairly, the idea that people who spend all of their time figuring out ways to make money can’t figure out how to manage it in a way that benefits the athletes too bothers me the most. On top of that, it seems you can’t point out athletes should share in the pot of money they help produce without being asked to explain how you personally think it should be worked out. I don’t need to be a collegiate sports professional to know when young people are being hosed.

Don’t believe for a second that an entire industry of business-minded people can’t figure out a way to give players some share of licensing revenue and keep teams running because it’s impossible. Realize that they won’t do it because nobody wants to make $500,000 a year when you could make a million.

He’s correct. This is not about “can’t” it’s about “want” and all the hemming and hawing about how hard it would be is nothing more than the usual pretend ignorance. What this comes down is what most modern corporate thinking is all about. Anything to make more money even if that means fairness and ethics are an afterthought. I’m exhausted by those practices not just in sports but in every facet of American life.